MIAMI (AP) – A South Florida shark diver has been found guilty of theft for releasing 19 sharks, and a giant grouper has been forgiven by President Donald Trump from a fisherman’s longline, a few miles from the coast.
The pardons for Tanner Munsell and John Moore Jr. were signed Wednesday. They were convicted in 2022 of theft of property within special maritime jurisdiction.
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The two men avoided prison time, but they were ordered to pay $3,343.72 in reparations, and the felony conviction prevented them from voting in Florida, owning firearms and traveling freely outside the United States
“We never stopped fighting and justice has finally won,” Moore’s lawyer, Mark Saitles, said in a statement. “We are excited that the White House has considered our argument and determined that this is an unfair prosecutor. We couldn’t be happy for John and Tanner.”
According to court records, Munsell, the captain of a shark diving charter boat and crew member, discovered a longline about three miles (5 km) from Jupiter Inlet in August 2020. Believing it was an illegal fishing line, the man released the shark and grouper, reported it to state wildlife officials, and brought the line back to the coast.
Federal prosecutors later charged the man with theft. Officials said the line actually belongs to fishermen licensed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and will catch sharks for research.
Munsell and Moore were convicted by the ju apprentice, and their appeal was later denied. The complete and unconditional pardons Trump has signed erased those beliefs.
“This case should never have been filed,” Munsell’s attorney Ian Goldstein said in a statement. “These gentlemen were making honest mistakes and trying to save the sharks from what they believed was an illegal longline fishing setup.
